13/7 - Out Of The Fog

“I wanted to understand why I am the way I am.”

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When adults adopted as children feel lost or incomplete - even if they had a happy childhood - they often describe themselves as ‘being in the fog’.

For Vicky Sandison, who was told her mother’s birth mother’s name at the age of nine, it was the internet that spurred her on to investigate who she really was.

First via Friends Reunited, then MySpace and now 23&Me, Vicky has been piecing together her birth family - and, as she explains to Olly in this month’s interview, coming out of the fog…

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Meanwhile, in the Zeitgeist, Ollie Peart takes an 18-hour military flight to the Falklands to uncover a world of dark tourism.

Are sites like Goose Green, Pebble Island and Mount Tumbledown, where hundreds of people lost their lives, appropriate stop-offs on a tourist trip of the islands?

Does holidaying at Anne Frank Huis, Auschwitz or the Cambodian Killing Fields diminish the terrors that happened there - or keep them alive in our collective memories?

The Zeitgeist is sponsored by Manscaped, creators of the anti-chafing, silky-soft Boxer 2.0. Get 20% Off + Free Shipping, with the code ‘Mann’ at Manscaped.com

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Elsewhere, in the Foxhole, Alix Fox has been on the hunt for celebrity foreskins at the 40th annual Coney Island Mermaid Parade.

And, in our listener question of the month, Foxy assists a listener who wants to know how to recycle her rampant rabbit.

Can old sex toys be accepted as small electrical devices by British recycling centres? Can they instead be re-sold? Or made into ART? Alix, as ever, has all the answers - and takes a look at a brand new eco-friendly toy.

The Foxhole is sponsored by ExpressVPN, a great way to view adult material in hotels and other places where you don’t want to be tracked. Head to ExpressVPN.com/Mann to get an extra 3 months FREE on a one-year package!

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Finally, our record of the month comes courtesy of Max Pope and the summery vibes of his new tune, Better Late Than Never. Enjoy 👇

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This episode is sponsored by:

• Stitch Fix, the personal styling site that sends you great clothes to try on at home. Get started today and get 20% off when you keep all five items at at StitchFix.co.uk/mann

• Tiege Hanley, who offer simple, effective skincare for men. Get 30% off your first box, plus a free gift, at tiege.com/MANN

• Beer52, the UK's No. 1 Craft Beer Club. For a FREE case of their delicious beer, visit beer52.com/modern and just pay for the postage - and they’ll chuck in TWO EXTRA BEERS just for you!

• Athletic Greens, the ultimate daily nutritional supplement. To get a FREE one-year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D, and 5 free travel packs with your first purchase, visit athleticgreens.com/mann

• LISTENERS LIKE YOU. If you can afford to buy us a beer each month to say thank you for making you a free 1hr+ magazine show each month - please do. We rely on your support.

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… And we’ll see you again, with our annual How To Be A Dad special, on August 10th!

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13/6 - The Blueprint

“You saw rich gangsters, and you saw poor graduates.”

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Reggie Nelson grew up on an East London council estate to alcoholic parents.

With drugs and violence all around him, he underperformed academically, and felt the only career options available to him were “music, football or crime”.

Quintin Price grew up in India, with a cook, butler, and driver.

His father was an international banker; his mother a committed philanthropist.

After boarding school and University, he went into banking himself, and became an executive at BlackRock.

Then, one afternoon in 2014, their lives crossed paths. 

In this eye-opening interview, they tell Olly what happened next.

Reggie’s book, Opening Doors, is out now, and is also available as an audiobook.

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Reggie Nelson, Olly Mann and Quintin Price, June 2022

Meanwhile, in the Zeitgeist, Ollie Peart investigates self-publishing sensation Substack.

Can he master the platform and become a blogging billionaire?

With the help of music recommendation newsletter Flowstate.fm, he attempts to decode the ingredients to create the perfect Substack crowd-pleaser.

But are his views ‘controversial’ enough?

The Zeitgeist is sponsored by Manscaped, creators of the anti-chafing, silky-soft Boxer 2.0, engineered to be the most comfortable boxers in your underwear drawer. Get 20% Off + Free Shipping, with the code ‘Mann’ at Manscaped.com

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Elsewhere, in the Foxhole, Alix Fox has been unpicking the complex intersection of faith and sexuality with muslim comedian Sadia Azmat, whose memoir, Sex Bomb, is out now.

Then, she answers our listener question of the month, courtesy of Mann-fan Craig in Baltimore, who is TTC* with his wife, and wants to know whether the underwear he is wearing could be affecting his fertility.

(*’Trying To Conceive’. You can have that acronym on us.)

With the help of Joshua Shoemake, founder of cooling underwear company Snowballs, Alix discovers how scrotal temperatures can make all the difference to procreation - and comes up with a novel suggestion to make the whole process a little more… romantic.

The Foxhole is sponsored by Handy - the willy-thrilling sex toy that can be controlled by your lover from anywhere on the planet. For free express shipping, use our code ‘Foxhole' at TheHandy.com.

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Finally, our record of the month is the anthemic I’m Insecure, from Lauran Hibberd’s debut album ‘Garageband Superstar’. Enjoy!

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This episode is sponsored by:

• Wine52, the wine discovery club. For a FREE case of their delicious wine visit wine52.com/mann and just pay for the postage

• Tiege Hanley, who offer simple, effective skincare for men. Get 30% off your first box, plus a free gift, at tiege.com/MANN

• ExpressVPN, Business Insider’s #1 rated VPN. Head to ExpressVPN.com/Mann to get an extra 3 months FREE on a one-year package

• Athletic Greens, the ultimate daily nutritional supplement. To get a FREE one-year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D, and 5 free travel packs with your first purchase, visit athleticgreens.com/mann

• LISTENERS LIKE YOU. If you can afford to buy us a beer each month to say thank you for making you a free 1hr+ magazine show each month - please do. We rely on your support.

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… And we’ll see you again on July 10th!

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13/5 - How To Run A Food Truck

“There wasn’t a business plan. My friend specifically told me to do a business plan. And I didn’t do one.”

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Pippa Till gave up her job as a TV edit assistant to follow her dream of selling food at festivals, in her very own food truck.

But she had no food, no truck - and no business plan. 

Armed with nothing more than derring-do spirit, a pile of debt and a sackful of scones, Pippa spent the next few years attempting to master her profit margin, ace her marketing, and bake the perfect cream tea.

And then 2020 happened…

Pippa’s business can be found at https://www.sconetomorrow.com

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Also catching up with Olly is brewer-turned-author Tommy Barnes (star of our 2019 episode, ‘Let’s Build A Brewery’). 

When we last spoke, Tommy had abandoned a steady job in the media to try his hand at beer-making in the Loire valley. How have the last two years treated him? And what IS a ‘beer-neutral brewery’? 

Tommy’s new book, ‘Trouble Brewing in the Loire’, is out now.

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Meanwhile, in the Zeitgeist, Ollie Peart investigates the University of Salford’s project to develop a universal sound for e-Scooters.  

Can he create a noise that perfectly matches his scootering speed and thrust? Can he channel his inner Hans Zimmer and match the medium with melody?

The Zeitgeist is sponsored by Manscaped, the only men’s brand dedicated to below the waist grooming. Get 20% Off + Free Shipping, with the code ‘Mann’ at Manscaped.com

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Elsewhere, down the Foxhole, Alix Fox celebrates the creation of the most accurate 3D model of female anatomy ever, and advises a listener whose partner gets frisky in his sleep.

Is he suffering from sexsomnia? If so, does this excuse him from his actions? And just how common is this condition?

CONTENT WARNING: rape, non-consensual sex.

The Foxhole is sponsored by Handy - a WiFi-enabled sex toy for men, designed and developed in Norway. For free express shipping, use our code ‘Foxhole' at TheHandy.com.

Pippa Till, Olly Mann and a SCONE, May 2022

The price is right: £5 for a tea and scone

Pip’s £13,000, 1981 Citroën HY

Olly with Tommy Barnes in the Loire Valley, 2019

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Finally, our record of the month comes from East London singer-songwriter Murkage Dave and his new track, ‘World I Want To Live In’, out now:

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This episode is sponsored by:

• Wine52, the wine discovery club. For a FREE case of their delicious wine visit wine52.com/mann and just pay for the postage.

• Tiege Hanley, who offer simple, effective skincare for men. Get 30% off your first box, plus a free gift, at tiege.com/MANN 

• Stitch Fix, the personal styling site that sends you great clothes to try on at home. Get started today and get 20% off when you keep all five items at at StitchFix.co.uk/mann

• LISTENERS LIKE YOU. If you can afford to buy us a beer each month to say thank you for making you a free 1hr+ magazine show each month - please do. We rely on your support.

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… And we’ll see you again on June 10th!

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13/4 - The Fatal Blow

Suspicion, violence, and guilt by association - one lawyer’s quest to exonerate her brother.

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Charlotte Henry’s brother Alex was just 20 years old when he was charged with murder, attempted murder and GBH for a gang-related incident that lasted just 47 seconds.

Even though he did not know the victim, and did not issue the fatal blow that killed him, Alex had run towards the scene of the crime with his friend Cameron Ferguson, who was armed with a knife.

Alex was charged under ‘joint enterprise’ laws - since overturned by the Supreme Court in instances of murder. But he remains in prison to this day.

In this interview with Olly, Charlotte - now a criminal defence lawyer - re-lives the moment she became aware her brother’s teenage truancy was escalating into something more troubling - and explains why, ten years on, she’s still campaigning to exonerate him.

You can view Charlotte’s petition (now closed) here. 

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Meanwhile, in the Zeitgeist, Ollie Peart tries his hand at making vegan milk.

Can his soaked oats match brand leader Oatly for flavour? Is it really more environmentally friendly to drink rapeseed oil than cow’s milk? And is rice always nice?

Olly finds out - in the taste test from Hell...

The Zeitgeist is sponsored by Manscaped, the only men’s brand dedicated to below the waist grooming. Get 20% Off + Free Shipping, with the code ‘Mann’ at Manscaped.com

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Elsewhere, down the Foxhole, Alix Fox weighs up the pros and cons of getting a ‘Prince Albert’.

Is it worth the discomfort to achieve greater sexual pleasure? What’s in it for your sexual partners?

And why ARE penis piercings named after Queen Victoria’s consort, anyway? Alix reveals all…

The Foxhole is sponsored by Handy - a WiFi-enabled sex toy for men, designed and developed in Norway. For free express shipping, use our code ‘Foxhole' at TheHandy.com.

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Finally, our record of the month is the loud-and-proud ‘Dangerous’ from indie funsters The Mysterines. Go stream it! 👇

Olly Mann and Charlotte Henry, April 2022

Alex Henry, around the time of the crime

Ollie gets ‘milking’

Ollie’s finished ‘milks’

The Taste Test

This episode is sponsored by:

• Wine52, the wine discovery club. For a FREE case of their delicious wine visit wine52.com/mann and just pay for the postage.

• Stitch Fix, the personal styling site that sends you great clothes to try on at home. Get started today and get 20% off when you keep all five items at at StitchFix.co.uk/mann

• LISTENERS LIKE YOU. If you can afford to buy us a beer each month to say thank you for making you a free 1hr+ magazine show each month - please do. We rely on your support.

————————————

… And we’ll see you again on May 10th!

LISTEN: Apple // Spotify // Google // MP3 // RSS // TuneIn

13/3 - Beneath The Avalanche

“The mountains are not out to get you. One reason they're so inspiring is because they’re also quite dangerous.”

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After surviving an incredible 200ft plunge from the Selkirk Mountains, British Columbia, multi-sport athlete Adam Campbell thought his mountaineering days were behind him.

But, thanks in part to his wife, Dr. Laura Kosakoski, Adam was able to return to the slopes.

Then, one day in 2020, he triggered an avalanche - with catastrophic consequences for both of them…

As Adam explains in this emotional interview with Olly, dealing with the fallout has meant coming to terms with guilt, accepting his vulnerability, and tackling the notion of ‘high-performance grief’.

Adam’s blog, Muddy Socks, can be found here.

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Meanwhile, in the Zeitgeist, Ollie Peart - fresh from interviewing Mann-fan Lizzy Yarnold for his Winter sports podcast The Apres - investigates the environmental impacts of the death care industry and the trend in Washington State for… human composting!

How does the process work? What takes the place of traditional funeral rituals? And what can you do with the compost that results? Ollie reveals all…

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Elsewhere, our record of the month is this toe-tapping romp from Gang of Youths - it's called In The Wake Of Your Leave, and the video is even better than the song 👇

This episode is sponsored by:

• Pact, the speciality subscription coffee company. New customers get a free V60 filter kit (worth £11) when they sign up to a Pact plan at pactcoffee.com and enter the code MANN at checkout.

• Betterhelp, the world’s largest online therapy platform. Get 10% off your first month of affordable, private therapy at betterhelp.com/modernmann

• Stitch Fix, the personal styling site that sends you great clothes to try on at home. Get started today and get 20% off when you keep all five items at at StitchFix.co.uk/mann

• Manscaped, the only men’s brand dedicated to below the waist grooming. Get 20% Off + Free Shipping, with the code ‘Mann’ at Manscaped.com

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This show is free to download, but it isn’t free to produce.

If you can afford to, please buy us a beer once per month - or as often as you like - using our secure, customisable form here. Thanks!

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… And we’ll be back (Alix Fox included!) on April 10th.

CONTENT WARNING: interview includes account of extreme sports injury, moment of death, and suicidal thoughts. Zeitgeist section includes description of body decomposition.

In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14. Hotlines in other countries can be found here.

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